A radiofrequency (rf) coil for use in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system using a plurality of rf coils includes a main loop coil including a plurality of electrical conductors, and an auxiliary loop coil disposed around the plurality of electrical conductors and including a plurality of electrical conductors.
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1. A radiofrequency (rf) coil of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the rf coil comprising:
a main loop coil, having a polygonal shape, and comprising a plurality of first electrical conductors; and
at least one auxiliary loop coil disposed outward from the plurality of first electrical conductors and comprising a plurality of second electrical conductors,
wherein the main loop coil and the at least one auxiliary loop coil are connected in series with each other, and
wherein the at least one auxiliary loop coil shares some of the electrical conductors of the main loop coil.
7. A radiofrequency (rf) coil assembly of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system with a plurality of rf coils, the rf coil assembly comprising:
a first rf coil comprising a first main loop coil having a polygonal shape, and comprising a first plurality of electrical conductors, and at least one first auxiliary loop coil arranged around the first main loop coil and comprising a second plurality of electrical conductors; and
a second rf coil disposed adjacent to the first rf coil and comprising a second main loop coil having a polygonal shape, and comprising a third plurality of electrical conductors, and at least one second auxiliary loop coil arranged around the second main loop coil and comprising a fourth plurality of electrical conductors,
wherein the at least one first auxiliary loop coil and the at least one second auxiliary loop coil overlap each other,
wherein the at least one first auxiliary loop coil is connected in series with the first main loop coil and the at least one second auxiliary loop coil is connected in series with the second main loop coil, and
wherein the at least one first auxiliary loop coil shares some of the electrical conductors of the first main loop coil.
3. The rf coil of
4. The rf coil of
6. The rf coil of
8. The rf coil assembly of
9. The rf coil assembly of
10. The rf coil assembly of
11. The rf coil assembly of
13. The rf coil assembly of
14. The rf coil assembly of
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This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(a) of PCT Application No. PCT/KR2014/012939, filed on Dec. 26, 2014, which claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-0165672 filed Dec. 27, 2013, 10-2013-0165677 filed Dec. 27, 2013, 10-2013-0165680 filed Dec. 27, 2013, and 10-2014-0002505 filed Jan. 8, 2014, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
The present disclosure relates to radiofrequency (RF) coils and RF coil assemblies used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatuses, and more particularly, to an RF coil that prevents occurrence of mutual inductance coupling, and an RF coil assembly including the RF coil.
When a parallel image is particularly obtained by using an MRI system, an RF signal emitted from a patient of whom the parallel image is to be obtained is received via a plurality of RF coils. Since the plurality of RF coils are arranged adjacent to one another, mutual inductance coupling occurs between adjacent RF coils. Due to the mutual inductance coupling, a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of an MRI image degrades. When the RF coils are arranged with a predetermined interval between them in order to reduce mutual inductance coupling, reception of the MRI signal fails due to the interval between the RF coils.
Accordingly, it is important to prevent mutual inductance coupling between adjacent RF coils in order to improve the quality of an MRI image. Various decoupling methods have been developed to prevent mutual inductance coupling.
Prior art related to decoupling methods includes a plurality of patents, such as JP 2000-225106, U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,816, KR 0368890, U.S. Pat. No. 6,927,575, and 6,879,159.
The example of
However, in the decoupling methods described above with reference to
The present disclosure provides a radiofrequency (RF) coil and an RF coil assembly used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatuses. The technical problems to be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the above technical problems, and other technical problems may be inferred from the following embodiments.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
According to an aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided a radiofrequency (RF) coil for use in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the RF coil including a main loop coil including a plurality of electrical conductors; and an auxiliary loop coil disposed around the plurality of electrical conductors and including a plurality of electrical conductors.
According to another aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided an RF coil assembly for use in an MRI system using a plurality of RF coils, the RF coil assembly including a first RF coil including a first main loop coil comprising a plurality of electrical conductors and a first auxiliary loop coil arranged outside the first main loop coil and including a plurality of electrical conductors; and a second RF coil disposed adjacent to the first RF coil and including a second main loop coil including a plurality of electrical conductors and a second auxiliary loop coil arranged outside the second main loop coil and including a plurality of electrical conductors, wherein the first auxiliary loop coil and the second auxiliary loop coil overlap each other.
According to another aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided an RF coil device for use in an MRI system, the RF coil device including a first RF coil structure including a first RF coil resonating at a first frequency and a second RF coil resonating at a second frequency; and a second RF coil structure located adjacent to the first RF coil structure and including a fourth RF coil resonating at the first frequency and a third RF coil resonating at the second frequency, wherein one of the second and third RF coils, resonating at the second frequency, is arranged between the first and fourth RF coils both resonating at the first frequency, in order to reduce mutual inductance coupling between the first and fourth RF coils.
According to another aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided an RF coil device for use in an MRI apparatus, the RF coil device including a first RF coil structure in which a first RF coil resonating at a first frequency and a second RF coil resonating at a second frequency are arranged side by side from left to right; and a second RF coil structure located adjacent to the first RF coil structure in a y-axis direction and in which a fourth RF coil resonating at the first frequency and a third RF coil resonating at the second frequency are arranged side by side from right to left.
According to another aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided an RF coil device for use in an MRI apparatus, the RF coil device including a first RF coil structure including N RF coils respectively resonating at N frequencies; and a second RF coil structure located adjacent to the first RF coil structure and including M RF coils respectively resonating at M frequencies, wherein an RF coil of the first RF coil structure that is closest to the second RF coil structure and an RF coil of the second RF coil structure that is closest to the first RF coil structure resonate at different frequencies.
According to another aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided an RF coil structure for use in an MRI system, the RF coil structure including an RF coil; an electrical conductor disposed around the RF coil to be apart from the RF coil; and an inductor that connects the RF coil to the electrical conductor.
According to another aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided an RF coil device for use in an MRI system using a plurality of RF coil structures, the RF coil device including a first RF coil structure including an RF coil, an electrical conductor disposed around the RF coil to be apart from the RF coil, and an inductor that connects the RF coil to the electrical conductor; and a second RF coil structure disposed adjacent to the first RF coil structure and including an RF coil, an electrical conductor disposed around the RF coil to be apart from the RF coil, and an inductor that connects the RF coil to the electrical conductor, wherein the electrical conductor of the first RF coil structure overlaps the electrical conductor of the second RF coil structure.
According to another aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided an RF coil for use in an MRI apparatus, the RF coil including an electrical conductor; and a wall integrally formed with the electrical conductor in order to reduce mutual inductance coupling with at least one RF coil adjacent to the RF coil.
According to another aspect of the inventive concept, there is provided an RF coil assembly for use in an MRI apparatus, the RF coil assembly including a first RF coil; a second RF coil; and a wall integrally formed with an electrical conductor in order to reduce mutual inductance coupling between the first and second RF coils, wherein at least one of the wall of the first RF coil and the wall of the second RF coil is positioned between the first RF coil and the second RF coil that are adjacent to each other.
According to the present disclosure, mutual inductance coupling occurring between adjacent RF coils may be effectively reduced. In particular, a main loop coil independent from an overlap area for reducing mutual inductance coupling may receive an RF signal emitted from a patient without disturbance of the overlap area.
A radiofrequency (RF) coil for use in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system includes a main loop coil including a plurality of electrical conductors; and an auxiliary loop coil disposed around the plurality of electrical conductors and including a plurality of electrical conductors.
An RF coil device for use in an MRI system includes a first RF coil structure including a first RF coil resonating at a first frequency and a second RF coil resonating at a second frequency; and a second RF coil structure located adjacent to the first RF coil structure and including a fourth RF coil resonating at the first frequency and a third RF coil resonating at the second frequency, wherein one of the second and third RF coils, resonating at the second frequency, is arranged between the first and fourth RF coils both resonating at the first frequency, in order to reduce mutual inductance coupling between the first and fourth RF coils.
An RF coil structure for use in an MRI system includes an RF coil; an electrical conductor disposed around the RF coil to be apart from the RF coil; and an inductor that connects the RF coil to the electrical conductor.
An RF coil for use in an MRI apparatus includes an electrical conductor; and a wall integrally formed with the electrical conductor in order to reduce mutual inductance coupling with at least one RF coil adjacent to the RF coil.
The present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing(s).
An RF coil 100 according to the present disclosure includes a main loop coil 101 and an auxiliary loop coil 102. The main loop coil 101 is within a dotted quadrilateral and has a pentagonal shape, and the auxiliary loop coil 102 is within a dotted quadrilateral and has a triangular shape outside the main loop coil 101. The auxiliary loop coil 102 is connected in series with the main loop coil 101, and 5auxiliary loop coils 102 are included. The main loop coil 101 and the auxiliary loop coil 102 include a plurality of electrical conductors 103 and a plurality of electrical conductors 104. The auxiliary loop coils 102 share some of the electrical conductors of the main loop coil 101. For convenience of explanation, capacitors included in an RF coil are omitted, and only electrical conductors are shown. The main loop coil 101 and the auxiliary loop coils 102 are on the same plane unless an external force is exerted. For example, when the RF coil 100 according to the present disclosure is disposed at the location of the reception RF coil 3 of
An RF coil 200 according to the present disclosure includes a main loop coil 201 and auxiliary loop coils 202. The main loop coil 201 has a hexagonal shape, and 6 auxiliary loop coils 202 are formed outside the main loop coil 201 and each have a triangular shape. The shape of the main loop coil 201 is associated with the number of auxiliary loop coils 202. Although not shown in
An RF coil 300 according to the present disclosure includes a main loop coil 301 and auxiliary loop coils 302. For convenience of explanation, 5 auxiliary loop coils 302 are illustrated. At least one of a plurality of electrical conductors that surround the main loop coil 301 is parallel to a z axis which is a base magnetic field direction. As well known to one of ordinary skill in the art, an electrical conductor parallel to a base magnetic field direction from among the electrical conductors of an RF coil usually receives an RF signal emitted from a patient. In
An RF coil 400 according to the present disclosure includes a main loop coil 401 and auxiliary loop coils 402. For convenience of explanation, 5 auxiliary loop coils 402 are illustrated. Each auxiliary loop coil 402 has a convex shape. The convex shape is preferably a semicircle. An auxiliary loop coil has a triangular shape in
An RF coil assembly 500 according to the present disclosure includes a first RF coil 510 and a second RF coil 520. The first RF coil 510 includes a first main loop coil 511 including a plurality of electrical conductors and first auxiliary loop coils 512, 513, 514, 515, and 516 arranged outside the first main loop coil 511 and including a plurality of electrical conductors. The second RF coil 520 is disposed adjacent to the first RF coil 510 and includes a second main loop coil 521 including a plurality of electrical conductors and second auxiliary loop coils 522, 523, 524, 525, and 526 arranged outside the second main loop coil 521 and including a plurality of electrical conductors. Mutual inductance coupling occurs between the first RF coil 510 and the second RF coil 520, which are adjacent to each other, but is reduced via an overlap area 530 formed by the first auxiliary loop coil 512 of the first RF coil 510 and the second auxiliary loop coil 524 of the second RF coil 520. In particular, the first auxiliary loop coil 512 and the second auxiliary loop coil 524 form the overlap area 530 such that the overlap area 530 is apart by a certain distance from each of the first main loop coil 511 and the second main loop coil 521. Accordingly, each of the main loop coils 511 and 521 is independent from the overlap area 530 for reducing mutual inductance coupling and thus may obtain a pure RF signal. An overlap area may be formed in each of the first auxiliary loop coils 512, 513, 514, 515, and 516. Accordingly, 5 adjacent RF coils are arranged around the single first RF coil 510, and thus more RF coils may be arranged adjacent to one another than when conventional rectangular RF coils are used. Thus, reception of an RF signal may improve.
An RF coil 600 according to the present disclosure includes a main loop coil 601 including a plurality of electrical conductors 603, and auxiliary loop coils 602 each including a plurality of electrical conductors 604. 5 auxiliary loop coils 602 are arranged around the main loop coil 601. The auxiliary loop coils 602 are connected in series with the main loop coil 601. The main loop coil 601 and the auxiliary loop coils 602 are on the same plane. However, in contrast with the RF coils 100, 200, 300, and 400 disclosed in
Various embodiments according to the present disclosure will now be described as follows:
(1) an RF coil for use in an MRI system using a plurality of RF coils, the RF coil including a main loop coil including a plurality of electrical conductors; and an auxiliary loop coil arranged around the main loop coil and including a plurality of electrical conductors;
(2) the RF coil including 5 or more auxiliary loop coils;
(3) the RF coil in which the main loop coil and the auxiliary loop coil are connected in series with each other;
(4) the RF coil in which the main loop coil includes at least one electrical conductor that is parallel to a base magnetic field direction;
(5) the RF coil in which the auxiliary loop coil has a convex shape;
(6) the RF coil in which the convex shape of the auxiliary loop coil is a semicircle;
(7) the RF coil in which the main loop coil and the auxiliary loop coil are on the same plane;
(8) the RF coil in which the auxiliary loop coil shares some of the electrical conductors of the main loop coil;
(9) an RF coil assembly for use in an MRI system using a plurality of RF coils, the RF coil assembly including a first RF coil including a first main loop coil including a plurality of electrical conductors and a first auxiliary loop coil arranged outside the first main loop coil and including a plurality of electrical conductors; and a second RF coil disposed adjacent to the first RF coil and including a second main loop coil including a plurality of electrical conductors and a second auxiliary loop coil arranged outside the second main loop coil and including a plurality of electrical conductors, wherein the first auxiliary loop coil and the second auxiliary loop coil overlap each other;
(10) the RF coil assembly in which the first auxiliary loop coil and the second main loop coil are apart a certain distance from each other and the second auxiliary loop coil and the first main loop coil are apart a certain distance from each other;
(11) the RF coil assembly in which the number of at least one of the first auxiliary loop coil and the second auxiliary loop coil is 5 or more;
(12) the RF coil assembly in which the first auxiliary loop coil is connected in series with the first main loop coil and the second auxiliary loop coil is connected in series with the second main loop coil;
(13) the RF coil assembly in which at least one of the first auxiliary loop coil and the second auxiliary loop coil includes at least one electrical connector that is parallel to a base magnetic field direction;
(14) the RF coil assembly in which at least one of the first auxiliary loop coil and the second auxiliary loop coil has a convex shape;
(15) the RF coil assembly in which the convex shape is a semicircle;
(16) the RF coil assembly in which the first main loop coil and the first auxiliary loop coil are on the same plane;
(17) the RF coil assembly in which the second main loop coil and the second auxiliary loop coil are on the same plane; and
(18) the RF coil assembly in which the first auxiliary loop coil shares some of the electrical conductors of the first main loop coil.
According to the present disclosure, mutual inductance coupling occurring between adjacent RF coils may be effectively reduced. In particular, a main loop coil independent from an overlap area for reducing mutual inductance coupling may receive an RF signal emitted from a patient without disturbance of the overlap area.
To construct the RF coil structure that resonates at Lamor frequencies of two types of atomic nuclei, one RF coil may be constructed to resonate at two types of frequencies. However, in general, different RF coils are provided to resonate at different frequencies.
A plurality of RF coil structures that resonate at two or more types of atomic nucleus Lamor frequencies may be arranged to construct an RF coil device.
RF coil structures each including two RF coils that respectively resonate at two types of atomic nucleus Lamor frequencies, and an RF coil device constructed by arranging the RF coil structures according to the present disclosure have been described above.
Various embodiments according to the present disclosure will now be described as follows:
(19) an RF coil device for use in an MRI system, the RF coil device including a first RF coil structure including a first RF coil resonating at a first frequency and a second RF coil resonating at a second frequency; and a second RF coil structure located adjacent to the first RF coil structure and including a fourth RF coil resonating at the first frequency and a third RF coil resonating at the second frequency, wherein one of the second and third RF coils, resonating at the second frequency, is arranged between the first and fourth RF coils both resonating at the first frequency, in order to reduce mutual inductance coupling between the first and fourth RF coils;
(20) the RF coil device in which one of the first frequency and the second frequency is a Lamor frequency for hydrogen atomic nuclei;
(21) the RF coil device in which the first RF coil is disposed inside the second RF coil in the first RF coil structure and the third RF coil is disposed inside the fourth RF coil in the second RF coil structure;
(22) the RF coil device in which the first and second RF coils of the first RF coil structure are disposed side by side from left to right and the fourth and third RF coils of the second RF coil structure are disposed side by side from left to right;
(23) an RF coil device for use in an MRI system, the RF coil device including a first RF coil structure in which a first RF coil resonating at a first frequency and a second RF coil resonating at a second frequency are arranged side by side from left to right; and a second RF coil structure located adjacent to the first RF coil structure in the y-axis direction and in which a fourth RF coil resonating at the first frequency and a third RF coil resonating at the second frequency are arranged side by side from right to left;
(24) the RF coil device in which one of the first frequency and the second frequency is a Lamor frequency for hydrogen atomic nuclei;
(25) an RF coil device for use in an MRI system, the RF coil device including a first RF coil structure including N RF coils respectively resonating N frequencies; and a second RF coil structure located adjacent to the first RF coil structure and including M RF coils respectively resonating at M frequencies, wherein an RF coil of the first RF coil structure that is closest to the second RF coil structure and an RF coil of the second RF coil structure that is closest to the first RF coil structure resonate at different frequencies;
(26) the RF coil device in which one of the N frequencies is a Lamor frequency of hydrogen atomic nuclei and one of the M frequencies is also a Lamor frequency of hydrogen atomic nuclei;
(27) the RF coil device in which (N-1) RF coils among the N RF coils of the first RF coil structure are arranged inside one RF coil;
(28) the RF coil device in which (M-1) RF coils among the M RF coils of the second RF coil structure are arranged inside one RF coil;
(29) the RF coil device in which (N-1) RF coils among the N RF coils of the first RF coil structure are arranged inside one RF coil and at the same time (M-1) RF coils among the M RF coils of the second RF coil structure are arranged inside one RF coil;
(30) the RF coil device in which the N RF coils of the first RF coil structure are arranged side by side in the x-axis direction;
(31) the RF coil device in which the M RF coils of the second RF coil structure are arranged side by side in the x-axis direction; and
(32) the RF coil device in which the N RF coils of the first RF coil structure are arranged side by side in the x-axis direction and at the same time the M RF coils of the second RF coil structure are arranged side by side in the x-axis direction.
According to the present disclosure, RF coil structures each including RF coils resonating at different frequencies are arranged adjacent to each other, and thus mutual inductance coupling between the adjacent RF coil structures may be reduced without using a special decoupling method.
The RF coil structure 1700 includes an RF coil 1710, an electrical conductor 1720 disposed outside the RF coil 1710, and an inductor 1730 connecting the RF coil 1710 to the electrical conductor 1720. The electrical conductor 1720 may include a capacitor and/or a conductor such as an inductor. The RF coil 1710 includes capacitors 1711, 1712, 1713, and 1714 and an electrical conductor 1715 connecting the capacitors 1711, 1712, 1713, and 1714 to one another. The number of capacitors included in the RF coil 1710 may be variously set. According to the present disclosure, for example, the 4 capacitors 1711, 1712, 1713, and 1714 constitute the RF coil 1710. When the inductor 1730, which connects the RF coil 1710 to the electrical conductor 1720, has a high inductance, the inductor 1730 prevents flowing of an RF signal into the electrical conductor 1720 and thus may separate the RF coil 1710 from the electrical conductor 1720. Accordingly, the RF coil structure 1700 is entirely one RF coil, but is divided into the RF coil 1710 involved in an MR image signal and the electrical conductor 1720 for preventing mutual inductance coupling. A means for preventing mutual inductance coupling will be described in detail with reference to
The electrical conductor 1720 needs to be separated from the RF coil 1710 except for the connection with the RF coil 1710 via the inductor 1730. It is also preferable that the electrical conductor 1720 is formed of copper. It is also preferable that the electrical conductor 1720 has a loop structure.
RF coils 1801, 1811, and 1821 and electrical conductors 1802, 1812, and 1822 that constitute RF coil structures 1800, 1810, and 1820 may have various shapes, such as a circle, a triangle, a quadrilateral, and an oval. As in the RF coil structure 1820, the RF coil 1821 is quadrilateral and the electrical conductor 1822 is circular. Thus, the shape of an RF coil may be different from that of an electrical conductor.
The RF coil device 1900 includes a first RF coil structure 1910 and a second RF coil structure 1920 adjacent to the first RF coil structure 1910. The RF coil structures 1910 and 1920 according to the present disclosure include RF coils 1930 and 1940, respectively, and electrical conductors 1950 and 1960 separated from the RF coils 1930 and 1940, respectively. The RF coil device 1900 includes an overlap area 1970 where the electrical conductors 1950 and 1960 of the adjacent first and second RF coil structures 1910 and 1920 overlap with each other. At the same time, the electrical conductor 1950 of the first RF coil structure 1910 and the RF coil 1940 of the second RF coil structure 1920 need to be apart by a certain interval 1980 from each other, and the electrical conductor 1960 of the second RF coil structure 1920 and the RF coil 1930 of the first RF coil structure 1910 need to be apart by a certain interval 1990 from each other. By arranging the first RF coil structure 1910 and the second RF coil structure 1920 as described above, even when the RF coil 1930 of the first RF coil structure 1910 and the RF coil 1940 of the second RF coil structure 1920 are adjacent to each other to the extent that they can receive an MR signal, the RF coil device 1970 having effectively-reduced mutual inductance coupling can be obtained. In other words, in the conventional art, when mutual inductance coupling is reduced by using an overlap area between RF coils adjacent enough to receive an MR signal, it is difficult to acquire a pure electric field derived from each of the adjacent RF coils. However, the present disclosure addresses this problem. In other words, since the overlap area 1970 according to the present disclosure is not an overlap area between the RF coils 1930 and 1940 respectively included in the RF coil structures 1910 and 1920, pure electric fields respectively derived from the RF coils 1930 and 1940 may be acquired.
The RF coil device 2000 includes a first RF coil structure 2010 and a second RF coil structure 2020 adjacent to the first RF coil structure 2010. The first RF coil structure 2010 and the second RF coil structure 2020 include RF coils 2030 and 2040 and electrical conductors 2050 and 2060. Similar to
Various embodiments according to the present disclosure will now be described as follows:
(33) an RF coil structure for use in an MRI system using a plurality of RF coil structures, the RF coil structure including an RF coil; an electrical conductor disposed around the RF coil to be apart from the RF coil; and an inductor that connects the RF coil to the electrical conductor;
(34) the RF coil structure in which the electrical conductor is formed of copper;
(35) the RF coil structure in which the electrical conductor has a loop structure;
(36) the RF coil structure in which the shapes of the RF coil and the electrical conductor are different;
(37) an RF coil device for use in an MRI system using a plurality of RF coil structures, the RF coil device including a first RF coil structure including an RF coil, an electrical conductor disposed around the RF coil to be apart from the RF coil, and an inductor that connects the RF coil to the electrical conductor; and a second RF coil structure disposed adjacent to the first RF coil structure and including an RF coil, an electrical conductor disposed around the RF coil to be apart from the RF coil, and an inductor that connects the RF coil to the electrical conductor, wherein the electrical conductor of the first RF coil structure overlaps the electrical conductor of the second RF coil structure;
(38) the RF coil device in which the electrical conductor of the first RF coil structure has a loop structure;
(39) the RF coil device in which the size of the overlap area is 10% of the loop area of the electrical conductor of the first RF coil structure;
(40) the RF coil device in which the electrical conductor of the first RF coil structure is apart by a certain interval from the RF coil of the second RF coil structure;
(41) the RF coil device in which the electrical conductor of the second RF coil structure is apart by a certain interval from the RF coil of the first RF coil structure;
(42) the RF coil device in which the electrical conductor of the first RF coil structure is apart by a certain interval from the RF coil of the second RF coil structure and simultaneously the electrical conductor of the second RF coil structure is apart by a certain interval from the RF coil of the first RF coil structure;
(43) the RF coil device in which the electrical conductor of the first RF coil structure and the electrical conductor of the second RF coil structure have different shapes;
(44) the RF coil device in which the electrical conductor of the first RF coil structure has a quadrilateral shape and the electrical conductor of the second RF coil structure has a circular shape;
(45) the RF coil device in which the RF coil of the first RF coil structure and the RF coil of the second RF coil structure have different shapes; and
(46) the RF coil device in which the RF coil of the first RF coil structure has a quadrilateral shape and the RF coil of the second RF coil structure has a circular shape.
According to the present disclosure, mutual inductance coupling occurring between adjacent RF coil structures may be efficiently reduced.
In order to reduce mutual inductance coupling, the size of a dihedral angle 2326 formed by the wall 2322 and the electrical conductor 2321 is preferably 90 degrees.
It is also preferable that a cross-section (taken along line AA′) formed by the wall 2322 and the electrical conductor 2321 has an L shape 2360.
Although a case where an RF coil has a quadrilateral shape has been described above, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The present disclosure relates to an RF coil including a wall integrally connected to an electrical conductor. Thus, as shown in
Various embodiments according to the present disclosure will now be described as follows:
(47) an RF coil for use in an MRI apparatus using a plurality of RF coils, the RF coil including an electrical conductor; and a wall integrally formed with the electrical conductor in order to reduce mutual inductance coupling with at least one RF coil adjacent to the RF coil;
(48) the RF coil in which the electrical conductor and the wall are formed of different materials;
(49) the RF coil in which the electrical conductor and the wall are formed of the same material;
(50) the RF coil in which the electrical conductor and the wall are formed of copper;
(51) the RF coil in which a height of the wall is greater than a width of the electrical conductor;
(52) the RF coil in which a dihedral angle formed by the electrical conductor and the wall is 90 degrees;
(53) the RF coil in which a cross-section formed by the electrical conductor and the wall has an L shape;
(54) the RF coil in which the electrical conductor has a slit via which the electrical conductor may be integrally connected to the wall;
(55) an RF coil assembly for use in an MRI apparatus, the RF coil assembly including a first RF coil; a second RF coil; and a wall integrally formed with an electrical conductor in order to reduce mutual inductance coupling between the first and second RF coils, wherein at least one of the wall of the first RF coil and the wall of the second RF coil is positioned between the first RF coil and the second RF coil adjacent to each other;
(56) the RF coil assembly in which the wall of the first RF coil and the wall of the second RF coil face each other;
(57) the RF coil assembly in which an interval between facing walls is inversely proportional to a height of each wall;
(58) the RF coil assembly in which facing walls have different shapes;
(59) the RF coil assembly in which a height of at least one of the wall of the first RF coil and the wall of the second RF coil is greater than a width of an electrical conductor integrally connected with the at least one wall;
(60) the RF coil assembly in which a dihedral angle formed by the at least one of the wall of the first RF coil and the wall of the second RF coil and the electrical conductor integrally connected with the at least one wall is 90 degrees;
(61) the RF coil assembly in which the at least one of the wall of the first RF coil and the wall of the second RF coil and the electrical conductor integrally connected with the at least one wall are formed of the same material;
(62) the RF coil assembly in which an electrical conductor and a wall are formed of copper;
(63) the RF coil assembly in which the at least one of the wall of the first RF coil and the wall of the second RF coil and the electrical conductor integrally connected with the at least one wall are formed of different materials; and
(64) the RF coil assembly in which the electrical conductor has a slit in order to be integrally connected with the at least one of the wall of the first RF coil and the wall of the second RF coil.
According to the present disclosure, mutual inductance coupling occurring between adjacent RF coils may be reduced according to a simple method.
Kim, Kyoungnam, Choe, Yeon Hyeon
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